Press Release

To proactively prepare for the 2011 fall school year and ensure a safe and secure learning environment for all students, MLS has implemented Awareity’s TIPS (Threat Assessment, Incident Management and Prevention Services).

Over 20% of students feel unsafe at school due to direct or observed teasing, threats, bullying, and other stressors.

Bullying has become a parent’s greatest fear when it comes to their children’s safety. Thirty percent of parents fear bullying and cyber bullying over kidnapping, domestic terrorism, car accidents, suicide or any other incident.

Like most schools, Messiah Lutheran School (MLS) in Lincoln, Nebraska is not expecting problems in their school, but they are committed to whole child development and student safety. MLS understands that in order for children to achieve academically, they must feel secure and comfortable in their learning environment. MLS also knows the importance of preventing bullying and harassment at an early age before bullying hits its peak in middle school. To proactively prepare for the 2011 fall school year and provide parents with peace of mind, MLS has implemented Awareity’s TIPS (Threat Assessment, Incident Management and Prevention Services).

TIPS is a comprehensive web-based platform that empowers school administration to improve awareness and connect the dots with teachers, staff, students, parents, and community members. TIPS allows individuals to be heard anonymously or non-anonymously when reporting warning signs and incidents or responding to surveys throughout the year. When an incident report is made, all appropriate and designated school personnel receive an instant notification to login to their TIPS secured platform to review the incident. All actions taken by the safety team are documented and team members can review open or closed incidents, set up reminders for themselves or other team members, search/review related incidents as needed and access guidance and best practices to ensure responses are meeting legal and regulatory obligations.

“TIPS is helping us become more aware of threats and incidents; if we don’t know about risks, we can’t work to prevent them. TIPS allows us to tap into our community and empower individuals to come forward and share their concerns with us,” says MLS CFO Erik Borgmeyer. As CFO, Borgmeyer was looking to reduce costs and “TIPS is helping MLS move away from our paper-based efforts and will help us automate information sharing more effectively and more efficiently.”

Once a report has been made, it is critical for school leaders to perform continual threat assessments in order to improve intervention, prevention, tracking of at-risks students and overall student safety. According to MLS Principal Matt Stueber, "We are thrilled to be able to offer such a valuable tool to help parents feel success as they lead their families. It is our prayer that no safety crisis touches our children. It is our responsibility to be ready if it does."